A Week of Freedom

What does one do with a week that doesn't involve infusions or doctor's visits? I went to the green mountains of Vermont! As soon as I was done with my infusion on Thursday, Aug. 11th, which also happened to be the last of the 18th infusions, we hightailed it out of there and took off.

I slept most of the way to New Jersey because that Benadryl still knocks me for a loop. In this case, it wasn't a bad thing ... nothing really to see on the drive but highways. We got to South Plainfield, NJ, just in time for dinner. I have most of my taste back so we decided to try Joe's Crabshack. I haven't eaten much of any seafood during chemotherapy and I've had a craving for crab for a while ... decided to indulge it. And boy, was it good! It wasn't fresh off the fishing boats good but it was good enough for the moment. I had the classic steampot with two kinds of crab, shrimp, potatoes and corn, and I am not ashamed to say I ate it all!

It really was a special day -- the end of this first 18 weeks of chemo and my first vacation in four and half months, and to mark it, my lovely husband gave me a necklace with champagne diamonds. It had three circles to represent our little family. The sneaky guy had the gift and card in the glove compartment and as we got in, he handed me something to put away and when I opened the compartment, there was the pink gift bag -- devious fellow!

On Friday we took our time heading to Vermont and got to our condo just after 4 pm because we stopped at the Price Chopper to pick up some food supplies. It was good to see the gently rolling mountains of Vermont and all that restful green. Our first meal in our condo was something easy -- spaghetti ... it was perfect.

I don't know what my obsession is about picking blackberries but I couldn't wait to pick them on Saturday and we made it to our property in Derby just after 10 am. The neighbor was out minding her yard sale, so had to chat with her, and of course the two dogs came over and wanted to be petted. I am an animal magnet ... Tanner wasn't content to be scratched, he decided he wanted to lean against my legs. And then Devon came over and tried to head butt Tanner away so he could get to my hand.

We did get to pick blackberries for about an hour and a half and that was about all I could take. I could feel sweat dripping down my back. I wish I could have just worn a scarf around my head but I am not brave enough ... actually if I was totally honest ... I am brave enough ... it's the questions I don't like.

Anyway, I started my blackberry jam in the crockpot as soon as we got back to the condo, and I prepared about four cups of blackberries for a cobbler to take to the neighbor's that evening for dessert. They had invited us for a steak dinner ... don't know what that man does to those steaks but they are delicious!

I had an absolutely lovely time in Vermont ... read a lot ... looked at the green mountains and fields from our deck ... took a trip out to the Von Trapp Family Lodge for lunch ... shopped a little and relaxed a lot.

It was so good not to have to think about an infusion coming up or taste buds gone haywire! My body and soul had a good time.

Tattooed!

I have survived half a century without being inked but alas I cannot say that now. I had my radiation simulation yesterday where they chart and then mark the area that is going to be radiated.

All right, I am just being a drama queen. It really is not that bad. I was expectiong to be marked with black ink all over but it really is only four marks -- a tiny ink dot that was injected into my skin near the middle of my chest; a longer mark also injected into my skin on the outer side of my breast; and marks on the top and bottom of my breast (these were drawn on and not injected). I really can't complain. I do not look like that LA Ink tart.

It was funny as I was buttoning up my shirt I looked down and saw the first mark and then automatically thought, "I have to brush that dirt off" and then realized that it was my "tattoo". I will get used to it.

What I was not too happy about was being told that I could not pick my radiation times but would have to work with what they gave me. And what am I supposed to do about working? Bloody idiots!

17th Infusion

Yes, yes, yes ... had my next to last infusion on Thursday. My absolute neuts were 5.1, so we know that the neulasta shot did what it was supposed to ... yay!


It's taken me longer to bounce back this time ... my energy level is not where I think it should be but I am not going to push myself. I started using the elliptical again on Saturday for only 10 minutes and shopping with John at Shoe Carnival and later popping over into Marshall's was exhausting.

Today I managed to do 15 minutes on the elliptical but I also put away all my laundry, cleaned the downstairs bathroom, made dinner and washed dishes, and that was enough for the day!

John has brought in the suitcases so I will use the next few days to pack for our trip to Vermont. I am really looking forward to being out of this house and having a change of scenery. I promise to be good to myself and relax as much as possible.

Aftereffects of Neulasta

I had my usual overwhelming fatigue on Saturday and Sunday and could do very little but sleep. I always have some degree of change in taste but this time seems worst. Nothing tastes good. Anything that is remotely sweet tastes gross ... I just want to rip out my tongue.

I had to scrounge around in the pantry to look for anything that might taste good. Since even Chinese food is not doing it for me, I thought I would try curry. I found a packet of Malaysian curry, so I boiled some potatoes and chopped up some leftover beef, and had myself some curry. I tasted some and it was edible but the funny thing is I could not taste any of the heat or spice. I'm not a fan of packet curries and curries not made by my Mum -- she was the only one who could make curry that was not too spicy for us. I am desperate here!

I've survived so far but have lost about five pounds ... it will all come back eventually.

I've had some of the pain from the Neulasta shot that I was warned about -- stomach, sternum, ribcage, hips, shoulder, but none of it has required medication. However, today I developed some pretty bad back pain and had to take Tylenol for it and then passed out on the couch.

This too shall pass ...